"A [preacher] who does not love art, poetry, music and nature can be dangerous. Blindness and deafness toward the beautiful are not incidental; they are necessarily reflected in his [preaching]." — BXVI

23 April 2013

No Church, No Jesus. . .

From Pope Francis' homily for the Feast of St George: "And so the Church was a Mother, the Mother of more children, of many
children. It became more and more of a Mother. A Mother who gives us the
faith, a Mother who gives us an identity. But the Christian identity is
not an identity card: Christian identity is belonging to the Church,
because all of these belonged to the Church, the Mother Church. Because
it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church. The great Paul VI
said: 'Wanting to live with Jesus without the Church, following Jesus
outside of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church is an absurd
dichotomy.' And the Mother Church that gives us Jesus gives us our
identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging. Identity means
belonging. This belonging to the Church is beautiful. . .Think of this Mother Church that grows, grows with new children to whom
She gives the identity of the faith, because you cannot believe in Jesus
without the Church. Jesus Himself says in the Gospel: 'But you do not
believe, because you are not among my sheep.' If we are not 'sheep of
Jesus,' faith does not come to us. It is a rosewater faith, a faith
without substance. . .

So, prog Catholics, can we finally stop all that nonsense about obeying Jesus instead of the Church; or, believing in Jesus but not the Church; or, following Jesus but leading the Church?